A Scape Goat Slips His Leash
by Tastin
Summary: Things come to a head at the Tendo dojo for Ranma. Following the disaster of a wedding, he comes to a sobering realization. His honor and that of all involved can only be preserved if he takes matters into his own hands.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nothing here really belongs to me, I'm just borrowing the characters to tell a story right quick. If someone wants to borrow from me, for whatever reason, feel free. I can hardly complain, since I'm borrowing from Ranma, Sailor Moon, and likely other anime and fan fictions for that matter :)

Authors Notes: This is my first story to put on the net, so let me have it! I'll admit I'm covering old ground in many ways, but I had to get this idea off my chest first. I have nothing like a pre-reader, just me, myself, and a spell checker. I will appreciate any commentary, useful, or flame-like :)

After many reviews and many suggestions, this newly formatted version of chapter one is the result. Thanks to all who pointed out the mess I had originally posted, as well as offered ideas for how to fix said mess! With any luck, this new formatting style will make chapter one and the following chapters clearer.

**Ranma Slips His Leash**

Heaving a sigh as he slowly settled down to sit straddled on the central ridge of the Tendo dojo, Ranma finally took the time to consider his situation. It was usually an impossible task to get even a moments peace in his life, much less time for introspection...

_Seems like everyone is in a huge hurry to get nothing done, as fast as they can. Just like every day before this, and most likely the way every day from now on is likely to go._

Another sigh sounds.

_Wonder how long it'll take before they all get set for another big blow up like that moronic wedding Pops and mister Tendo planned? Hope I have at least a little breathing room left. This kinda crap just gets worse every go round. You think you've seen the limit of the weirdness and the ridiculously strong wackos in this world, then wham! Here's a new one for ya! It's getting a bit old, though I doubt anyone would care what I think of it all._

Laying back against the ridge and relaxing a bit, he takes a moment to gaze up at the only peaceful thing that seems to stay with him.

_Glad I can still count on something, even if it is just stars in a night sky. Heh, and that tomorrow will be at least as frustrating and painful as today was._

He pulls his eyes shut for a moment and grimaces at the string of memories tied to the words "frustrating and painful".

_I still don't understand what those two thought they were going to accomplish with marrying me and the Tomboy with all this crap still hanging over my head. It's not like the honor debts my Pops put our family into are just going to disappear. Best case, I end up with a wife I can't stand and three or four personal enemies for life. Worst case... worst case is a whole lot of dying and outright blood feuds between strong martial artist families that last for more than a generation_.

His hands briefly run across his face, trying to scrub away some of the tension these thoughts are creating.

_There just isn't an honorable way for me to marry any of them. Pops guaranteed that whether he knows it or not. Damn idiot... I've spent the last two years or so trying to either beat down or out last the problems I'm stuck with, and I'm getting nowhere. I guess my last two options are all I really have left. I keep hoping something else will come along, but that's turned out to be a really useless thing... hope._

He lets his eyes close for a bit while he falls back to thoughts of those two options.

_Seems like either sepuku, or going ronin are the only two things I can do to fix this mess. That's gotta be the gods pissing on their favorite target. I manage to avoid spilling my guts for my momma's little manliness obsession... only to head right back to a shiny little tanto blade. Damn, this is just nuts._

Rocking back to a seated position, he stares out at the neighborhood itself for a bit.

_Then there's becoming ronin. It would fix things up for everyone else except maybe the Amazons... Seeing as they aren't tied to me by family honor. The rest of them, including all the others that Pops got for me and haven't popped up yet, would have nothing to bind them to the dishonor of the Saotome name._

His fists curl up and he tensed for a moment then relaxed again with a final sigh.

_That, of course, leaves me basically screwed. Ronin aren't welcome much of anywhere in Japan, even in this day and age. Jobs are gonna be scarce, and places to live hard to find. Not that those things will keep me from surviving. Just make it a little more obvious that I ain't welcome. Nothing really new there though... Living here in Nerima is an exercise in survival anyway. No doubts that there are a ton of folks that would love to see me go away. A few of them being my so called friends and even some of my fiancés._ The last part of this thought echoed with mockery and resignation.

_I doubt any of em will really miss me anyway.. sepuku or ronin, either way._

He slowly grinds one of his clenched hands into the tiles of the roof as he broods over the idea. Suddenly he stops and snatches something from his pocket and stares at it for a moment. With a deft motion he starts slowly spinning the coin across the fingers of his right hand, still staring at it intently.

_Guess this is as good a way to decide as any eh? I'm sure good ole Nabiki would approve, seeing as money makes the world go round!_

Somewhat unsteady laughter slowly bubbles up from his chest as the coin spins to a stop on the back of his hand. _Let's see then. Ahh that'll do, heads for the loss of mine when sepuku is done, or tails for turning mine and running away. Saotome Final Technique for the last time as it were_.

A brief tensing of the muscles of his forearm, and then the coin is popped neatly into the air. Gently spinning, it arcs over to his waiting left hand, and he slowly raises it into the view of the little light available.

"What do you know, the gods must not be done pissin on me yet."

The shiny back of a 10 yen piece glinted up at the night sky from his open left hand.

* * *

The next morning dawned on a remarkably quiet morning at the Tendo residence. The usual sounds of mayhem that started the day missing. Not many noticed this so early in the morning. Only Kasumi and the Saotome's were normally awake and active at this time, after all. Kasumi had been awake for almost an hour at this point, working through her morning rituals and readying the home for another day. 

Quietly, she went about her chores while keeping an ear open for any potential disturbances to the flow of the morning. Most of the neighborhood's odder residents tended to visit after the early hours of the morning had passed. Still, it never hurt to keep an eye out for them anyway. Her pondering eventually brought her around to wondering about her family's personal source of unusual events.

_The Saotome's had yet to make the usual exuberant noises that the morning brought by this point in her routine. Perhaps Genma had snuck out again with Father? They did tend to sleep in a bit more on such occasions... Well, it probably would become clear shortly. Breakfast would be ready in less than fifteen minutes. That woke both Saotome's without fail._

Kasumi had to suppress a small giggling fit at the thought of the pair's usual scrambling, leaping arrival in her dining room each time a meal was served. As the preparations for breakfast wound to a close, she gathered up the first few trays of food and entered the dining room. Humming quietly to herself, she knelt down and began to place the trays down on the dining table.

Ranma's voice came from close behind Kasumi just as she began to set down the trays, "Heya Kasumi, let me help ya with those."

She let out a startled, "eep!", and almost fumbled the food as she jerked in surprise. Ranma swiftly placed a hand on each tray and helped guide them down to the table smoothly.

"Sorry bout that Kasumi.. I didn't mean to scare you!", a somewhat contrite looking Ranma said.

"It's alright Ranma, I just didn't notice you until you spoke up. If you want, you can help me set the table and gather up the last of the food."

Ranma nodded and followed Kasumi into the kitchen and they quickly finished the morning routine together.

"Not that I mind, but... why are you down here instead of sparing with your father, or still sleeping for that matter?"

Kasumi turned a curious gaze to Ranma as they sat down to wait for the others. Ranma began to fidget slightly, his hands twisting small handfuls of cloth in his loose pants as he failed to meet Kasumi's eyes.

"I... I have something important to say this mornin, once everyone is done eating..", came from his obviously reluctant lips.

"Oh.. well, I suppose I shouldn't press if you think everyone needs to hear it. It won't be long till they all arrive anyway."

Kasumi's gaze went from curious to somewhat worried as she watched Ranma become even more outwardly agitated when she mentioned the time till everyone would arrive. His eyes had hardened and his body had tensed up even as he tried to contain whatever was bothering him. She suddenly had a very bad feeling about this morning. It had felt slightly "off" starting with the unnatural silence, and continuing with this strange nervousness in Ranma.

* * *

Shortly before Kasumi and Ranma had their conversation, Genma Saotome had indeed awoken from a little extra sleep induced by a night out. After slowly bringing himself to full consciousness, he turned his eyes to his son's bedroll. His hopes for a brisk morning spar were dashed though, as Ranma's bedroll was nowhere to be seen. 

_Boy must have already gotten up.. Kasumi must be cleaning the bedding too.. oh well._

The elder Saotome decided he'd just have to catch the boy unawares later in the day.

_After breakfast, that'll do. Got to keep the boy on his toes, but not without a bit of food first!_

Genma heaved himself up and pulled on his gi, heading down the stairs for breakfast. His bleary brain failed to notice the other oddities in the room, the absence of Ranma's personal objects, pack, and clothes for example...

* * *

Elsewhere in the home, the rest of the residents began to wake up and prepare for the morning. Akane, Nabiki and Soun all made their way downstairs for a bite to eat. The weekend was upon them, so no one was in a vast hurry to get anywhere. So a leisurely breakfast, followed by a bath was about the furthest into the day anyone had really thought. As everyone entered the dining room, those awake enough to notice such things were a bit surprised. 

"Ranma? Why aren't you still sparing outside?" said Akane as she raised an eyebrow at him with a mildly puzzled expression on her face.

"You have to have a panda to pound if you plan to practice in the morning.. No panda.. No practice.." he said then shrugged at her.

"Right.. whatever Ranma. As long as neither of you mess up breakfast, I don't care what you two do.", she huffed in return, then settled down at the table.

Oddly enough, Ranma failed to reply to her comment. He simply sighed and started filling his plate. Shortly after Akane's comment, Genma filed into the room along with Nabiki and Soun.

"There you are boy! You dodged this morning's practice, a bad habit for martial artists like ourselves!" Genma rumbled as he took his seat.

"Pfft, whatever.. I'm just glad to wake up without you two pretending to be my very own personal alarm clock this morning.", Nabiki stated as she slowly sat down with a short lived, if pointed, stare at the two Saotome's.

In an overly enthusiastic voice, Soun spouted out, "Now, now Nabiki. There's no reason to begrudge a martial artist his morning exercises! Genma is just looking out for the boy's training!"

Soun clapped Genma on the shoulder as he sat down in his own place at the table. A little more grumbling was heard, up until breakfast was begun. Without the usual lightning quick clashing of Ranma's and Genma's chopsticks over this or that morsel of food, breakfast came to an end quickly. Ranma had simply ignored any effort on Genma's part, and ate what little was left.

Genma gave his son a puzzled stare, but shrugged it off. It was extra food for him after all. The others noted the oddity, but simply thanked the gods for the break in the danger usually involved in reaching across the table for food. Once everyone had finished, Ranma cleared his throat to get their attention.

"I have something I need to say to everyone here this morning."

Ranma's odd, strained voice and somewhat unusual expression began to register in the minds of those at the table.

Nabiki began to pay close attention, as it dawned on her just how odd Ranma's behavior was. Shaking off the last of the morning grogginess, she spoke up, "You have our attention Ranma. Just what do you need to say that all of us should hear together?"

She had gotten used to seeing a fairly small range of expressions on his face. Resignation, depression and determination had never been displayed together on his face. Resignation and depression were totally foreign to the boy, she had been almost certain...

"It's about family honor, the fiancées and most of my enemies too." He heaved a breathe then continued.

"I've been spending time tryin to fix all the messes that pops made for me. As well as the problems I picked up for myself... I've done everything I can to clean up our families honor. But it isn't working. Nothing I've done has really even put a dent in the huge mess. I don't think anything really will."

Ranma paused a second and seemed to brace himself.

"Well... go on boy! Quit wasting time and just say it!" said Genma.

"Spit it out already Ranma, why do I need to hear about those bimbo's?" growled Akane. She really didn't want to hear about this sort of thing so early in the morning.

Nabiki just pursed her lips and peered at Ranma, still a little puzzled by his behavior and a bit more alarmed at the choice of topic that was coming with it.

Ranma sighed, then said in a low flat toned voice, "Fine.. I got two ways to fix this mess. Nothing else will satisfy everyones honor. I can either gut myself, or I can become ronin."

Everyone gawked at him for a moment then started yelling all at once. Ranma couldn't make out what anyone was saying with everyone trying to speak at the same time.

Akane gasped out., "What?"

Genma slowly rumbled out, "Are you out of your -"

Nabiki jumped in sarcastically, "You have got to be joking Saotome! This is the stupidest-"

Soun began to spout out as well, "Now son, don't be rash-"

It all blurred together into a jumble of argumentative noise in his ears...

"Shut up! It's my damn guts ta spill, and my honor to wreck... not yours! Despite what you all think, none of you can make me do anything I don't let you!" he growled out through clenched teeth. "I'm done bowing to what everyone else thinks I should be doin, seeing that it hasn't made one damn thing better for anyone."

A stunned silence followed this short tirade.

"Unless you suddenly want to take up the duty of fixing the problems you've made for the Saotome clan, father, I have to pick one of those two solutions." he ground out in a flat and angry tone.

Ranma bore his gaze into his father's eyes for a few moments. Genma's eyes began darting around the room, looking for a way out of this suddenly uncomfortable situation.

"Now see here boy, its your duty to uphold the honor of the clan. All this whining is just a sign of how weak you've let yourself become. Be a man about this!" Genma growled in response to his son's steady stare.

"Right... be a man about it? Be a man... Ok, then. I'll do just what you've taught me a grown man does Genma! All this crap is your problem now! I'm not your son! You aren't my father! My name is Ranma, of no clan! Good luck old man, when the angry fathers, pissed off daughters, challengers, demons, ghosts, and gods come calling for the blood of a Saotome!" Ranma screamed out in a voice full of rage, his chi finally slipping out of his control into a visible, towering red flame around his now standing body.

He looked around the room with burning eyes, daring anyone to try and push any more crap his way. His eyes passed over his father and Soun with little more than contempt showing. The dual flinches in response did not surprise him. Turning his eyes towards the Tendo daughters, he barely acknowledged Nabiki's stunned face. He did pause at Kasumi's wide eyed stare and pale face, a slight look of regret showing as he looked at her.

His chi began to draw in closer to his body as he spoke briefly.

"I'm sorry Kasumi... You never deserved to be mixed up in this mess. I hope things will calm down, and you can stop worrying about all the crazy people I kept bringing here wrecking things and scaring your neighbors off... You have been about the only kind person I've known since this whole circus started. Thank you for puttin up with me for so long Kasumi."

He bowed briefly to her, then turned his eyes to Akane.

They stared at one another for a moment, Akane with shock and confusion, and he with a wistful, sad gaze. "I don't know why we never got along.. I guess I never will. I wish you the best Akane. I wish we could have been friends instead of angry, insulting fiancés."

He sighed and the chi around his body faded from red to white... to a faint green even as he pulled it back within his body.

"Goodbye. I'm fairly sure rumor monger over there can handle spreading the word around... heh.. last bit of profit you'll be able to make from me.. Better make it count Nabiki."

He pasted a sickly grin on his face, and then simply bounded into the yard, then completely out of sight along the roof tops. A scorch mark on the floor and table, and a room full of stunned, angry, or sad faces were all that remained to mark his leaving.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nothing here really belongs to me, I'm just borrowing the characters to tell a story right quick. If someone wants to borrow from me, for whatever reason, feel free. I can hardly complain, since I'm borrowing from Ranma, Sailor Moon, and likely other anime and fanfiction for that matter :)

Authors Notes: Here's chapter two, new formatting style in place. Let me know if this style is readable or not. After all the help I've been offered on the topic, I really want to get at least that much right :P As always, I have nothing like a pre-reader, just me, myself, and a spell checker. I will appreciate any commentary, useful, or flame-like :) Useful commentary will be put to use as soon as I take it in :)

**Consequences and Surprises**

Chimneys, telephone poles, fence posts. All these things were briefly touched by slippered feet, without any real attention given to doing so. As long as it was in his path, it became part of the road he was bounding along as fast as he could make himself go. Judging by the screaming of the wind as he whipped along, that was plenty fast enough.

_Now what. I meant to tell them that, but it really didn't make anything better. I still feel like breaking something!_

Ranma grimaced as his head pounded and his temper refused to give way to the Soul of Ice he had been using. It was all that had let him get through doing that in the first place. Especially after seeing how Akane and Kasumi reacted... Kasumi he had expected a little sadness from. She was just nice that way. But the pale faced horror she had shown... Akane though, that had shocked him almost out of the technique entirely! She didn't just blow him off, or say good riddance. He had been bracing himself for something like that, not the confused disbelief she had shown at his tirade.

His father, no... Genma had reacted almost exactly as he'd expected. No matter how bad something seemed to be for his supposed son, Genma only cared about what affected himself. To the fat panda, no one else counted... No one ever had.

Now he was faced with quite a few loose ends, even after cutting ties the way he had.

_Damn it, I don't even have a way to go ronin without leaving a lot of problems to deal with. My family is a total loss, even the half I didn't want to lose._

His face twisted as he thought of his former mother.

_I couldn't even go to her with these things, Genma's promises weren't hers to break. If he didn't undo his messes, then it was up to me to fix em... Lazy bastard.._

A brief glimmer of chi began leaving a green and red trail behind the leaping figure as he lost his grip on it for a moment.

_Crap! I gotta keep that wrapped up!_

He gritted his teeth in his effort to concentrate, and the faint trail of chi stopped following him as he kept rushing along.

_I really don't need to leave an obvious path for all the loonies to follow. Not that they won't anyway, but I really don't need to speed them up any._

He cast his gaze around, just now starting to take stock of where he was and where he was headed at the moment.

_The Amazons are going to get wind of this pretty soon, along with the old letch.. The rest don't have any real cause to come after me... other than pure stupidity or insanity. Guess I can't predict the Kuno's. Then again, I never tried anyway.. Damn crazies never did do anything that made sense._

His mind started churning over the likely reactions of all those left not yet dealt with.

_I need to find a place I can hole up for a while. Somewhere I can deal with anyone that follows me, or attacks without paying attention to who or what's around them. Can't let any non-combatants get caught up in one of these explosions of random violence. No one else in this madhouse ever cared to check before they start throwing around high powered attacks!_

Ranma's eyes finally settled on a small, unused lot near the edge of Nerima.

_Whew... I didn't think I was this close to the edge yet. Oh well, its as good a spot as any to bring all this crap to an end._

Ranma dropped from the last roof line near the edge of the lot to the remaining rubble in the lot. A quick look around revealed a large mostly dirt covered area, with the remains of a condemned two story building in the center.

_This ought to work fine. Plenty of room, nothing valuable to break, and no neighbors close enough to worry about them. All that's left is to wait on the rest of them to decide to chase me down. Feh. That shouldn't take very long. I give em an hour tops, before they start showing up to scream and fight._

Ranma slowly sat down on the edge of a broken wall, near the front of the buildings remains. He worked to bring his anger, and the resulting boiling chi, under control while he had some peace.

He slowly, but surely, felt his emotions begin to settle as he entered a light meditation. He kept his senses trained on his surroundings though. It wouldn't help anything to get jumped while he dealt with this. With a brief shudder, his body relaxed slightly as he entered the state of mental clarity he needed. It was going to be hard to keep holding the bulk of his strength back, if he couldn't deal with the coming people without feeling so damn angry.

With a sigh and a quick shake of his head, Ranma left the light trance he had entered.

_Here she comes.. eh? that's odd... I wonder why the old ghoul is here alone?_

Ranma stood up slowly and let himself drop into a loose ready stance, just in case.

The distinct sound of a wooden stick clacking on roof tiles echoed over the lot as Elder Cologne came bouncing into view. She moved without hurrying to the lot itself, the simply hopped up to the edge of the wall that Ranma was waiting on. She turned to face him, and simply gazed expressionlessly for a moment.

"So.. finally decided to act instead of react eh, Son-in-Law?" came the familiar raspy voice of the Elder.

"Eh? What do you mean finally?" Ranma gaped at the tiny Elder with surprise showing clearly in his face.

"I mean to say, I had hoped you would finally realize that nothing would change for the better, if you never made an effort to change things for yourself."

She smirked slightly as she settled herself down into a seated position on the walls edge.

"You've done very well in learning the art boy, but life is a lesson that takes much effort to enter through that thick skull of yours."

Ranma simply blinked, stunned past all his expectations with this last statement from the old ghoul. He sank down and sat abruptly as he began to realize he had no idea what the crazy old ghoul was up to now. It made no sense at all that she had _wanted_ him to do this... or at least something like it.

"Wait... you mean you approve of this? You wanted me to do this? I figured you would just jump me and try and run off to China with me, not sit here and congratulate me!"

"Approve of this? Well, that might be a bit more than I meant, but close enough. You have been in dire need of a dose of spine in my opinion, and this is a good sign that you've started to grow one for yourself."

She grinned at the scowl now showing on his face.

"Now, now, Son-in-Law.. Don't get too worked up. I still have matters to settle with you after all. You still need to take care of my great grand-daughter's loss of honor!"

The elder's face settled into a firm stare at this announcement.

Ranma's expression firmed up as well.

"There's a couple things I have to make real clear you old... Elder Cologne. I won't be going back to China for any reason, and I am not going to put up with being forced to do anything by anyone!"

He struggled not to lose his current hold on his temper, especially as the elder had merely raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"What will you offer me then Ranma? I cannot let the matter rest as it is. My great grand-daughter must have her honor restored, one way or another. On this point, I will not budge."

Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at the young mans face.

"You must be willing to make a worthy offer to Shampoo and the village itself, if you want to avoid dealing with the two Kisses you have been given."

She paused and laid her hands in her lap.

"I'd hate to have to re-instate the Kiss of Death, which is all I currently have left as an option the way things stand boy.", her voice sounding particularly tired at that moment.

In a puzzled and somewhat confused voice Ranma blurted out, "Worthy offer? What the... What can I offer a whole village that they would want? All I know how to do is fight, and everyone in your village can already do that."

He shook his head and gave the elder a puzzled look. He really hadn't expected her to do anything like this. What did she expect from him? This sort of deal making was Nabiki's area... not his!

Rolling her eyes ever so slightly, she replied, "Ranma, do you even realize what you have done over the last year or so? Perhaps I can jog your memory a little. The Orochi, Prince Herb, for heavens sake Saffron! Do any of these names ring a bell Ranma?"

Both eyebrows going up he shrugged and said, "Well yeah... I fought all those guys I suppose.."

"And what was the outcome in each case Ranma?"

"Err, I beat them.. after a rematch in Herb's case I suppose. Why does this matter, umm.. Elder?" a very puzzled Ranma asked.

"You foolish boy.. All right, I'll give you one last lesson on this sort of thing today. This is likely the last lesson I will be able to give you for quite a while, so listen up. In this last year, you have defeated both of the most feared enemies of my tribe, with little more than an eye blink of time to train. None of the warriors of the village would even dream of attempting something so insane as attacking Lord Saffron without years, even decades of training, as well as support from dozens of allies. Even then, we would expect a near total loss of life, in exchange for slowing him down! Do you begin to realize what we might see in you my boy? Think! Then try and make an offer I should be willing to hear."

The elder then settled back, and peered hopefully at Ranma's once again stunned features.

Ranma was reeling internally at this point. This day had been the cap to a volcano of anger and frustration, topped off by the shocks he'd received at the Tendo's when he had blown his top and cut ties... Now his entire idea of what Cologne had been wanting all this time was being turned on its ear! Make an offer? Defeated her enemies? What the heck was this? Feeling decidedly dizzy at this point, Ranma began rubbing his temples and tried to do as she'd asked.

He knew he had been better than most of the people he had met and fought for the past few years. The few times he was over matched, he just trained and came back to win the next round.. But surely he wasn't the only one that could have done these things? Was he? Well... judging by how serious the elder was being, maybe that really was the case. He hadn't really had time to compare himself to anyone outside of the usual suspects in a long while.

_Hmm... she probably won't care if I take a look, seeing that she's tryin to teach me something here.._

Ranma focused briefly on Cologne, and tried to get a idea of the strength of her chi. He hadn't even bothered to do this in the past, since he had assumed she would simply hide it from him. A few moments later, eyes bulging as he stared, Ranma nearly fell over in shock yet again.

Ranma blurted out, "I'm stronger than you? When? How? No way!"

Cologne began to chuckle out loud at the expression on the boy's face.

She grinned at him and said, "That's not an offer sonny boy, but it is an accurate observation. I will likely know more styles and techniques for some time, but I have not made a habit of fighting every powerful opponent I stumble across. Much less challenge gods to personal combat. I'd wondered how long it was going to take you to clue in on some of what I'm trying to say here. So then, beyond a somewhat rude way to say something like that... What else have you thought of?"

Ranma shook his head ruefully. This really felt strange to say.. but well.. it made sense, as long as you accepted what the elder had pointed out...

"I still won't be marryin anyone.. but maybe I could come to China, if you need me. I mean, if either of those two guys, you know.. Herb and Saffron, try attacking you.. I could head over there, and kick their butts for you.. That sound like a good deal? I mean, for droppin those Kisses and stuff?", Ranma nervously queried the elder.

The elder shook her head slowly as she started speaking, "Oh Ranma my boy, while better than not making an offer at all... That was really pathetic. Still, I'll take your offer. I'll even take it in the best light possible my boy. I will bring your offer to the rest of the Council and have the Kisses removed. I will expect no trouble from you though, if I ever have to call on you my boy. I know your sense of honor, so I'll not require anything but your word. Next time though, be firm when you make an offer like that. Not everyone has first hand evidence that you can back up your words. Offers made without at least the appearance of confidence are usually laughed off at best."

She stood and stretched lightly before saying, "Now then, I doubt the little delays I have placed in the path of the others will last much longer. So, if you wish to say anything else, now is the time."

"Well, yeah.. I guess I'll stick to saying thanks. You've done more in the last few minutes for me, than I remember anyone doing over the last two years. I guess I ought to say goodbye too, seeing as I doubt I'll be back here, or visiting China anytime soon. I'll try and get some kind of message to you I guess, when I find a place to stay for longer than a day or two..." Ranma trailed off at this, his face falling a bit.

"I wish you luck then my boy. It seems our time is up. Try not to do anything permanent to anyone.. I can feel that you are in control of yourself at the moment... Try to keep it that way until you've finished here."

With that last bit of advice, and a nod to Ranma, she swiftly dropped from the remains of the wall they had spoken on and leapt over the other side of the fence at the edge of the lot. Within a handful of seconds, the predicted others came bounding and leaping into view at the side of the lot opposite of the elders exit.

Ranma's lips twisted into a grimace, as he saw who all had arrived. Happosai, Ucchan, Ryoga, and Mousse all landed in various spots in the area next to the wall he stood on. He quickly decided on an approach. He brought his chi into tight focus and prepared to treat this round seriously. Control, or no control, he refused to be caught unprepared for the likely attacks from at least three of this group.

Two of them, true to the days trend, failed to play the game as he had expected. Both Happosai and Mousse simply leaped a second time and landed on nearby roofs. Happosai taking out a pipe and settling down, apparently to watch. Mousse simply folding his arms into his sleeves, and peering at the building Ranma was on with a neutral expression on his face.

Ryoga, however,did not disappoint.

"Ranma! You will pay for making Akane cry!", came the by now familiar words. Ryoga didn't stop at all, simply entering the lot and bounding straight at Ranma, umbrella leading the way.

Ucchan, her face distorted by both anger and signs of having cried recently, simply jumped to the top of the wall at a slight angle to Ryoga's leap. She said absolutely nothing as she came. Her face set and her giant spatula cocked.

Ranma skipped right past his usual fare. No insults, no comments at all. He slipped to the left of Ryoga's umbrella, placing Ucchan on the other side from him, then simply unleashed a full five hundred punches charged with chi into Ryoga's right side without even bothering to name the attack he used. His right leg lashed out and pushed his dazed target into the path of Ucchan's landing spot and the he simply circled around them both as they rolled out from the bad landings.

In a nearly expressionless voice Ranma ground out, "I don't have time for you and your stupid unannounced attacks Ryoga. Say goodnight, cause I'm only going to take the time to listen to words. Fighting is going to get you beaten to a pulp right now."

With that, he pulled far more chi into his hands than he had ever bothered to while fighting in Nerima, and simply blew Ryoga down through the remains of the building they were on, and well into a smoking hole on the other side. He immediately threw himself backwards and under the swing of Ucchan's weapon, just in time to get a close look at its business end. He then snapped both hands up and grabbed hold of the weapons shaft. A strong pull, followed by a backwards roll, brought Ucchan within reach of his legs.

He pulled her through a complete rotation, scissoring both legs around her as they went. When the roll was finished, he had her weapon across her body, and her arms pinned to her sides firmly with his legs.

As he tightened his grip he then said, "All right Ucchan. What'll it be... Talking, or the other option."

Ukyo struggled hard for a moment, trying to break the grip.. only to find the pressure increasing on all sides as a result.

Ranma just shook his head with a weary expression on his face and said, "No... not going to let you move, till you answer me.."

Ukyo finally let out a cry of frustration and lay still. She glowered at him from where she was pinned, anger warring with other emotions in her eyes.

"Why? Why did you just give up? How could you do this again? You always find some way to leave me behind!" she nearly shouted at him.

Ranma gave Ukyo a very startled look, gaping at her in confusion..

"What..? Leave you..? What the heck does that mean?" he spluttered out.

"What do you think Jackass! You managed to go and trash any chance at all for any of us! I can't marry a ronin!" she screamed with more than a hint of grief under the anger she was feeling.

"Damn it Ucchan, that's the whole point of this! I don't want to marry anyone, so long as it's going to dishonor anyone else too. There wasn't any other way to make this mess work out. I did everything I knew how to do..." he trailed off with a mix of frustration and sadness in his voice.

"Oh gods... you could have come to me. I would have helped you fix this mess if you'd just asked! I love you, you idiot! I wanted to be your wife..." she nearly burst into tears as she forced herself to talk instead.

Ranma slumped a little, then simply rolled off of Ukyo and sat next to her. He left her weapon where she could reach it, if she wanted to. Ukyo just sat up and pulled her legs up, sitting Indian style. Turning to stare at Ranma, she put her chin into her hands and just blew out a breath.

"Ucc... Ukyo. I just don't.. I just wanted to stop all the problems. I never wanted to marry anyone. I just wanted a real friend or two... Guess this is one more thing I ought to pound the panda for. He's too damn good at ruining everything he touches."

Ranma clenched his fists and hunched his body tighter, forcing himself to look back at Ukyo as she gazed at his face sadly.

Ukyo started out sullenly saying, "Well, you've managed to break all the engagements all right... And I have to agree about the panda, that flea bitten bastard is going to feel a lot more pain before I'm done with him! As for real friends... What the heck do you think I am you idiot?" Her voice had risen into indignant tones by the end of her words.

Ranma winced a bit at first, but his face slid into a mostly neutral expression as he replied, "You were a Fiance Ukyo.. not a friend, not really... You were as much a part of all the craziness as anyone else in this stupid circus. Or don't you recall throwing bombs at me at that idiotic wedding? I would have loved to just have one person I could call a friend. But that's never happened to me. With all the dangerous crap going on around me, even the bravest of the normal kids in school made sure to smile and wave from a distance. Anyone that could maybe handle some of the crap, was practically guaranteed to be involved in it! Heck, even before I got here it wasn't any better. Good old Genma managed to deny me any chance to get to know anyone even slightly, before making me run along to even more insane training grounds!"

Ukyo's face slowly dropped further until her hands covered her face as Ranma went on. She let out a long shuddering sigh as he finished.

"I guess it doesn't matter whether or not this was a good idea eh Ranma? You've done it already, and it can't be undone. I wish you would have told me some of this before you boiled over, but like I said.. done is done."

Ukyo scrubbed her face with the palms of her hands, then looked up at him again.

"I can't really fix anything by trying to hit you... I should have known better by now anyway."

She paused and chuckled ruefully before going on, "Your free now, there's nothing binding you to my clan, or me to yours. Just a few memories of a kid I really liked once upon a time. Guess I'll have to tell my father that I can't hunt down someone that doesn't exist anymore..."

She rubbed a hand across her eyes, before any tears could escape. She slowly pulled herself to her feet and turned to face him squarely.

"I probably won't be staying in Nerima, once I can pull myself together anyway. The business was just something to allow me to exist here while I tried... something that just wasn't going to work I guess. Good luck I suppose.. Maybe I'll see you again, but I doubt it'll be anytime soon. I know you do most of the dumber things you do, because of that old man.. But I just can't deal with this, or you for now. Goodbye Ranma."

With that, she grabbed her weapon, and silently dropped off the wall and slowly made her way out of the lot.

Ranma followed her path with his eyes for as long as she was in sight, letting out a sharp breath as she finally walked out of view. That had left another painful ache throbbing away in his chest. Along side the ones he'd always had, and the new ones he'd received at the Tendo's. He didn't understand why he kept feeling this way, but he wished it would stop. It was easier to get hit and hurt where he could see it, at least he was used to that kind of pain. Shaking his head to try to clear his thoughts, he rose to his feet and looked out towards Happosai and Mousse.

In a voice that almost dripped with emotional exhaustion he said, "Do either of you two have anything you have ta say or do to me? I really want this day to be over, so let's just finish this ok?"

Mouse simply shook his head and dropped into a shallow bow towards Ranma from where he stood.

"I have very little to say Ranma. The elder's intentions towards you have been made far too clear to ignore. Besides, I could not ask for a better outcome than the removal of the Kiss of Marriage. My rivalry with you is done, one way or another. I am only here to report the results of today to the elder."

Happosai gave one last pull on his pipe before rising to his feet from where he had seated himself. Calmly blowing out the smoke in a loose circle, he then replied, "I'm only here to offer a few words Ranma, my boy. After all, this is not a time for the usual games I so enjoy playing with my favorite student."

He paused to smirk slightly at him, then went on, "I just wanted to remind you that your status as ronin means nothing to me, boy. You had best keep up your training, as I plan on keeping the heir to my school in top form. Your training in our school is by no means over. Still, so long as you don't outright reject the title.. You've long since been good enough to call yourself a master of the Anything Goes School. If those two fools can claim such a title, then by all means, you have easily earned the same or more. Don't do anything too foolish boy, I will come find you when your ready for a bit more than some words."

The old master simply nodded once to the stunned young man, then smiled as he disappeared entirely from sight on the spot he had been standing in. One moment there, the next gone without a trace. Ranma hadn't even noticed him flex his chi, or make even the smallest of movements. Mousse simply turned and leaped out of sight, once the ancient man had made his exit.

_What the hell was all that?_

Ranma almost felt like he ought to pinch himself, just to see if he was dreaming all this up. This went way beyond the weirdness he usually lived in. This day had been one of the worst, and one of the strangest in his whole life. Still, with the old Grand Master's surprising offer of mastery in Anything Goes, things weren't quite as hopeless as they had been. He might be able to lever that into some kind of living, if he could survive the old letch's idea of training at least..

Gazing around himself at the now completely empty lot, he began to relax from his heightened state of battle readiness. Most of the expected trouble had come and gone.. or not come at all. He was most likely free of any more attacks, at least for today.

_Now what?_

_I don't have any place to go... I guess I'll just get a good ways out of Nerima on this side of the district, then find a roof top to put up a tent or somethin.._

That decided, he shook himself once and leaped off in the direction he had been unconsciously running when he had started his long flight this morning. His pace much slower, if still improbably fast for anyone else, he began looking for a new place to live.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Nothing here really belongs to me, I'm just borrowing the characters to tell a story right quick. If someone wants to borrow from me, for whatever reason, feel free. I can hardly complain, since I'm borrowing from Ranma, Sailor Moon, and likely other anime and fanfiction for that matter :)

Authors Notes: Here's chapter three. I've settled on a style of writing for now. Thank you all for giving me so much advice. :) If you have more, feel free to share it with me! As always, I have nothing like a pre-reader, just me, myself, and a spell checker. I will appreciate any commentary, useful, or flame-like :) Useful commentary will be put to use as soon as I take it in :)

**Life Without a Home**

With a tired groan, Ranma stretched out his arms and legs as best he could inside the tent he was currently laying in. He had found a two story building to camp on that seemed to be mostly abandoned. With a bit of jury rigging, his tent had been placed up against the side of a retaining wall around the buildings edge. With a bedroll and a single change of clothes in it, the tent was more than enough to hold him.

The rest of his supplies were left in the grip of the hidden weapons technique he maintained. That way, he never had to worry about losing much if he was forced to run or an attack landed nearby. The bedroll got tucked away into the technique, every time he got up in the morning as well.

A wide yawn greeted the morning air as Ranma began to stir.

_Ugh.. Still not used to waking up without someone trying to either splash me or kill me. Oh well, it's only been three days of the new routine. Guess it'll take a little longer to feel normal_.

He picked up the bedroll and quickly rolled it up and stored it away. Pulling on the clothes he had set out, he left the tent to begin his morning training routine.

Looking around, he spent a moment to study his surroundings. There wasn't much to see really, just a bunch of warehouses in this area. Most of them were either run down or rarely used as far as he could tell. Still, it served him well enough. He had access to enough training area for his needs, relative privacy, and no neighbors to wonder at his presence on the roof.

No one had bothered him in his new location, not yet anyway. He had little faith in things staying that way though. He figured that his old problems, along with his usual luck in gathering new trouble, would crop up sooner or later. Peace had never been a big part of his life.

_No point in worryin about stuff that hasn't happened yet. Time to get to work._

That said, he launched himself into his warm up routine. A set of simple kata done at normal speeds were completed without fanfare before he began to get serious. Moving into the styles and techniques he had been steadily adding to his base style, he started bringing his chi to bear on his efforts.

A faint outline of white-blue light surrounded his body as he moved into Chestnut Fist levels of speed in brief bursts of effort. Arms, as well as legs, flashed out of sight as a staccato cracking sound erupted at each burst of speed. He had been trying to get his whole body to perform the speed technique, but had not been able to control the results. For now, he was pleased to be able to add these high speed kicks to his list of abilities.

He went through every trick he knew that wouldn't damage the building itself. He kept the chi usage down as low as he could manage, and still get some training benefits from it. Two hours worth of pushing himself later, he finished up his cool down routine.

_Time for food.. Better head out a ways this time. I'd hate to wipe all the food out in any one spot._

Putting thought into action, he started heading in the direction of a local park he had made note of as he entered this new ward. His food wasn't exactly the best choice in the world, but it did fill his belly. Various birds had become his meal of choice. Toss in a few herbs and a rare scrawny vegetable, and you had his menu. The birds were easy to catch and kill for someone like him, even without any sort of ranged weapon. A handful of stones, thrown at rather absurd speeds, did as well as any armed hunter could manage. The rest was just a matter of scrounging and luck really.

_I've gotta find some kind of job soon... This sort of thing is getting a little old. I want some real food one of these days, and a roof over my head would help too... Oh well, there's still a whole day left to ask around again._

His luck with jobs and an address of his own had been miserable so far. No one wanted a boy his age without family, a home of some kind, or any references working for them. Never mind that he had no experience in dealing with business people, or normal people of any kind really. He was starting to understand just how much he hadn't learned about the rest of the world while he was off with Genma. He had begun to wonder if he would ever be able to work and live like a normal person would.

He shook his head to clear his mind of distractions.

"No point wasting time going in circles about that now. Back to hunting." he muttered irritably.

The park came into view quickly as he bounded along the roof tops. Dropping into the park itself, he began searching for today's meal. He quickly chose a clump of trees to start in and silently padded towards them. About halfway there, all the birds in the park shot off into the sky in a frightened mass.

Ranma stared at them in confusion

_What the heck? I know I didn't set them all off!_.

A moment later his senses suddenly spiked with a feeling of threat coming from nearby. He whipped around to face the general direction of the sensation. At that same moment, the sound of a fairly large number of people screaming from further in the park began to reach his ears.

_Shit... That feels a lot like one of Happi's old demons.. Not exactly right though. Better take a look. It can't be a good thing, whatever it is._

Ranma took off at high speed toward the screaming and whatever it was giving off the greasy feeling of wrongness. A handful of seconds later, he got a view of the commotion from a perch on a tree branch above the area the screaming was coming from.

_What kind of nut case summoned this thing? It's even weirder than most of Happosai's usual efforts!_

To all appearances, a demonic, mutated tree was currently flailing around in the clearing just in front of him. Dozens of people were running and screaming in all directions, trying to get away from the creature. Several had actually been picked up by a few of the trees arm like branches and were hanging either limp, or only feebly moving in its grasp. To his senses, it looked a bit like it was using a very weak imitation of Ms. Hinakos aura draining technique.

_Crap, I thought I'd left this stuff back in Nerima. Oh well, better nail this thing before those people lose enough of their aura's to really hurt em.._

With that, he tossed himself off the tree he was in and into the whipping arms of the creature. He called out as he jumped towards it, "Time to say goodbye ugly, I don't play around with your kind."

A blur of motion ensued within the branches of the demonic creature. A series of loud cracks and brief tearing sounds were followed by bellows of pain from the creature. Shortly after he disappeared from view, he reappeared a short distance away. Suddenly, nearly every limb fell off and dropped to the ground. The people it had been holding dropped to the ground as well.

"Geez... you must have been the runt of the litter. None of the demons the old letch sicked on me were as weak as you are. Oh well, still gotta take care of ya. You are a threat to normal folks anyway.."

With that, he simply tossed a middle strength chi blast at the focal point of the demons aura. With a brief howl, the thing simply fell apart into drifting ash.

_Huh... I wasn't expecting it to do that... oh well, at least its gone._

He shrugged and headed toward the people on the ground next to where the demon had been.

He could already see that they were stirring as they lay there in the grass, their aura's seeming to recover once they were released. After looking them over quickly, he decided that he'd leave the rest to the paramedics and such.

_Time to go, before I get noticed.. I don't want to explain much to the police till I'm old enough to be on my own..._

He made a few quick gestures and simply faded from view and headed elsewhere to find a meal.

* * *

Back in Nerima, things had not been going well. Ranma's abrupt departure had torn a massive hole in the balance of things in the ward. The Tendo's had been stunned for most of a day following Ranma's explosion of temper. 

Akane had disappeared up into her room and refused to talk with anyone. She was completely surprised by Ranma's extreme reaction. She had no way of dealing with it, as she really had never seen him react this way. She had never realized that Ranma was feeling enough stress from recent events to do more than grumble, as he had in the past. He hadn't shown any signs that she had seen up until today...

"Damn that idiot.. now what do I do.." she mumbled as she stared out her window.

"He's really messed things up now. Now no one can marry that idiot! That stupid, crazy...", her voice cracked a bit as she fought not to cry.

"Crying won't make anything better... why cry over him anyway!" she threw herself down on her bed and stared into the sky through her window.

"I wonder what he'll do now... Damn it Ranma... why didn't you just say something instead of wrecking everything!" With this final shout, she finally gave in, and cried softly into her pillow.

Soun had begun to wail about the schools never being joined. In response, Genma attempted to comfort him, saying that he would simply have to find the boy, and make him return to marry Akane! The fact that Ranma was no longer his son didn't seem to have penetrated Genma's thick skull yet.

Nabiki had reacted to the events of the day with an air of disbelief at first. She quickly hid her shock behind her cool business face though. She privately wondered how long the boy would last without help. The gods only knew how little dear Uncle Genma had taught him, outside of martial arts. She told everyone who remained at the table that she was going out for a bit, then left the home. She knew exactly what she needed to do. As usual, she had quickly come to terms with the new information and chosen a reaction to suit it. There was no way she was going to let him just disappear without so much as an attempt to find him. She had a few things she had left to do that involved the former Saotome.

Kasumi remained stuck between horror at the events, and sorrow at the loss of someone she had come to view as a wonderful little brother. Unlike most of the others, she had not been unaware of the strain that Ranma had been under. She didn't involve herself in his life all that often, but her presence in the background was never noticed. She had noticed the rarely seen honest expressions of anger and depression he let slip from time to time. She had also spent a few nights, once in a while, listening to him when he simply had to talk to someone. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen a way to help Ranma truly resolve the things that burdened him. So long as that disgusting panda was still his father, the problems would likely never go away. Sadly, she hadn't realized that Ranma would come to the same conclusion.. and act on it. The house was going to be a broken, unhappy place without his bright spark of life in it. She would do what she had to for her family, but the smile she usually wore was lacking for quite some time.

Ukyo had simply gone back to her shop, put up the closed sign, and placed a single call to her father. She flatly informed her father that Ranma Saotome no longer existed, and that she would be away training for a while. Without waiting for a reply she hung up, sat herself down in a booth in her restaurant, then allowed herself to cry. Life would go on, but it just wouldn't be the same. No matter what she chose to do now, Ranma was no longer someone she could hope to spend her life with.

Events at the Nekohanten were decidedly odd. Elder Cologne had returned to the restaurant after having spoken with Ranma. Once she had entered the building itself, she allowed a pleased smile to show on her face. Truly, things had gone much better than she had expected. The boy had accepted her offer without more than a token protest. This then, would be her new approach. No more clumsy attempts at seduction, magical coercion, or use of force to make him a part of the tribe. It was past time to take matters into her own hands.

"Shampoo! Come here child. I need to speak with you.", she called into the back of the building.

"Yes Great Grandmother! I'm coming", Shampoo called back.

Shampoo entered the dining area, and spotted her Great Grandmother sitting at one of the tables. She quickly came over and asked, "What you needing, Great Grandmother?"

"Sit down child, I have very important news for you that concerns Ranma. You may not like hearing some of what I have to say, but you will abide by my instructions. Is this understood?" she stared firmly at Shampoo as she waited for a reply.

Shampoo looked both excited and taken aback by the Elder's words, but nodded her acceptance quickly. She was extremely curious now, since she had never seen her Great Grandmother so serious about anything.

Cologne cleared her throat then said, "Shampoo, I must now take the matter of Ranma's membership in our tribe into my own hands. He is now released from all Kisses of Marriage, or Death." Shampoo's eyes widened and she almost began shouting, though she held back when she saw the elder's cane rise up a bit in warning.

"We will now be pursuing Ranma in the fashion we should have been using from the first day. I only allowed you to chase him as you saw fit, so that you could learn from your mistakes. The boy has become too valuable though, and your methods have not improved at all child. Ranma will never come to us using the methods you have chosen.", she eyed her stunned heir carefully at this point.

"From now on, you will treat him strictly as a friend and equal. He will be left alone for a time, then approached gently. The council has decided that he is too valuable to be lost, and has declared him an ally of the tribe.", She watched as Shampoo began to slowly show signs of despair, then she continued.

"All is not lost for you however. You may still find yourself married to the boy in the end. If you do things my way this time, you might get better results than you have had so far.", she smiled at the dawning look of hope on her great granddaughter's face.

"You will see Shampoo. All will be well in time. Patience is all we need now.", she smiled broadly at her great grandchild and then settled back to enjoy some tea... and wait.


End file.
